US says does not support declaring Pakistan a ‘terrorist state’

US says does not support declaring Pakistan a ‘terrorist state’

The US today said it does not support declaringPakistan a ‘terrorist state’ but will continue to work with the governments in the region to eliminate safe havens which also pose a threat to India.

The US also called for a “meaningful dialogue” between India and Pakistan to address differences including the Kashmir issue and to bring down the recent tensions.

State Department spokesperson John Kirby, however, expressed confidence that Pakistan has kept nuclear arsenals safe from terrorists.

Asked if the government would support a bill in the Congress and an online petition that the US should declare Pakistan a ‘terrorist state’, Kirby at his daily press briefing said: “I have not seen anything specifically about the – such a bill, and obviously we don’t.”

He, however, said he would not comment on “whatever pending legislation may be coming in that regard”. “What we – what I would say is common threat, common challenge in the region, and we’re going to continue to work with Pakistan, with Afghanistan, and the Secretary (of State) just came back from Brussels and the Afghanistan conference in Brussels. And obviously it’s a threat to the Indian people as well.

“So we’re going to continue to work with the governments in the region to try to address these common threats and challenges, and we’ve always said that more can be done about the safe havens and that’s – we’re going to, again, try to work as cooperatively as we can to that end,” Kirby said.